Furcron v. Gurkin
Furcron v. Gurkin
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion-of the court.
This action of ejectment was brought by J. A. Gurkin against W. A. Furcron to recover possession of a portion of a lot, which may be conveniently designated as Lot 25 in Block 55, fronting on Colonial avenue, in the city of Norfolk. The plaintiif prevailed in the lower court, and the defendant assigns error.
The Sterling Place Company, a corporation, being the owner of a tract of land in Norfolk, subdivided the same into blocks, lots and streets, recording a plat thereof in the
“Whereas, it is the desire of all parties in interest to make a change in that portion of the plan of. the company lying south of Gray street and Pocahontas avenue on said plat, by which certain lots in Blocks 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 and 58 shall be changed so as to be made perpendicular to the streets on which they front, and,
“Whereas, the parties have agreed upon a plat amending that ^portion of the original plat to that extent, which is hereto annexed;
“Now, therefore, in consideration of the premises, the parties hereby agree and consent to and with each other that the plat hereto annexed shall amend and supersede the corresponding portion of the original plat, and shall be recorded as a plat binding on all parties in interest.”
This agreement and the plat referred to therein were duly admitted to record.
After some years had elapsed, and after a number of the lots in Block 55, as replatted, including Lots. 25 and 26 which are directly involved in this litigation, had been sold and conveyed by reference to the replat, it developed that the new lateral lines, while apparently and approximately so, were not, in fact, exactly perpendicular; and this controversy grew out of that fact. The plaintiff contends for lines at exact right angles to Colonial avenue. We insert
It will be seen that the rear dimension of Lot 25 does not appear in figures on the amended plat. It is a concession in the case, however, and is manifest as a mathematical deduction, that this dimension is necessarily ■ shown by the
The plaintiff in this action, John A. Gurkin, is the owner of Lots 26 and 27, which, though acquired by him after the defendant had purchased Lot 25, were sold and conveyed by the land company to the plaintiff’s predecessor in title in 1909 by the following description: “Lots numbers twenty-six (26) and twenty-seven (27) in'Block number fifty-five (55) each of said lots fronting twenty-six (26) feet on the western side of Colonial avenue, and extending back, between parallel lines, one hundred and ten (110) feet, as shown on the plat of the property of the party of the first part, known as Colonial Place, which plat is duly of record in the clerk’s office of the Corporation Court of the city of Norfolk, along with a certain agreement made between the party of the first part, Theodore F. Eogers, trustee, and Egbert G. March, executor and trustee, and Henry N. Tifft,
The defendant, W. A. Furcron, is the owner of Lot 25, ■ sold and conveyed to him by the land company in 1910 by the following description: “Lot number twenty-five (25) in Block number fifty-five (55), said lot being bounded and described as follows, to-wit: Beginning at the southwest intersection of Pocahontas and Colonial avenues, and extending westwardly, along the southern side of Pocahontas avenue one hundred and fifteen feet; thence southwardly, and parallel with Colonial avenue, twenty-six (26) feet to the northern line of Lot number twenty-six in said Block number fifty-five; thence eastwardly, along the northern line of Lot number twenty-six, one hundred and ten (110) feet, to the western side of Colonial avenue; and thence northwardly, along the western side of Colonial avenue, fifty-two (52) feet to the point of beginning; as shown,” (etc., as in deed to plaintiffs lots).
The plaintiff, of course, only claims that Lot 26 has front and rear lines twenty-six feet in length. His contention means that ail the division lines between the lots on the amended plat are wrong, and should be at exact right angles with the avenue. This would result in upsetting the entire plat as to those lots; and it is to be observed that his contention for “perpendicular” lines could be satisfied in either of two ways: first, by commencing, as he wishes to do, on Colonial avenue fifty-two. feet south of Pocahontas avenue, and extending the division line at right angles to the former so as to cut off a portion of the defendant’s Lot 25; and,' second, by commencing at the rear comer of Lot 31 on
But there is another view of the case which in our opinion is likewise fatal to the plaintiff.
The trial court, over the objection of counsel for the defendant, permitted the jury to consider and construe the agreement of February 17, 1905, along with the plat attached thereto, in determining the true boundary line be
The foregoing considerations, are, in our opinion, conclusive of the case and render it unnecessary to discuss other assignments of error involving questions which cannot arise in any future trial.
The -judgment complained of will be reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial to be had, if the plaintiff shall be so advised, not in conflict with the views herein expressed.
Reversed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.